defend herself any longer? at this point it is anyone's guess which is part of the reason why this has been such a fascinating case. just gets more fascinating. that is it for me. have yourself a wonderful weekend. i'm headed back down to phoenix for jodi's case. in the meantime jake tapper takes it from here. congressional hearing drinking game. if you took a yagr shot every time someone said outrageous at today's irs hearing you'd be in for one mother of a hangover. i'm jake tapper and this is "the lead." the national lead. today irs stands for, i'm really sorry. the ousted chief apologizing for the agency singling out conservative groups but our guest republican congressman paul ryan says he didn't get any straight answers. the politics lead. the nra no longer just an election year threat for gun control supporting politicians. we're breaking the news right now. the nra is now helping to lead the recall effort to yank at least one elected official out

of office in the middle of his term. we'll hear from the target himself, a man who led the effort to pass sweeping gun control in his state. the president of the colorado state senate. and the pop lead. they were destined to adorn the wrists and ear lobes and necks of the world's most famous people, but now the stars will have to find some different bling after a heist at the cannes film festival. good afternoon. we begin with the national lead. now the irs knows what it's like to be on the business end of an audit. a withering appearance today before the house ways and means committee by steven miller who walked the plank this week as soon-to-be former acting director of the irs. miller, who now has a resume to update, appeared alongside treasury inspector general jay russell george who did the study that revealed unfair practices at the irs and showed some irs workers flagged certain right-leaning groups for extra scrutiny, groups with tea party

and patriot and other red blooded flag waving conservative words in their names during their mission statements. inspector general george was asked this point blank. >> did you find any evidence of political motivation in the selection of the tax exemption applications? >> we did not, sir. >> but most interesting, perhaps, was this. from miller who offered up his contrition on what must have been the longest day in his professional life. >> i want to apologize on behalf of the internal revenue service for the mistakes that we made and the poor service we provided. we provided horrible customer service here. i will admit that. we did. horrible customer service. whether it was politically motivated or not is a very different question. >> just bad customer service like a cell phone or cable company, except you are never

allowed to change providers. miller indicated he did not see anything criminal in the irs targeting individual groups and taxpayers. >> do you believe it is illegal for employees of the irs to create lists to target individual groups and citizens in this country? >> i think the treasury inspector general indicated it might not be but others will be able to tell that. >> what do you believe? >> i don't believe it is. >> the ig's audit says miller knew conservative groups were being targeted in march, 2012, but a month later he wrote a letter to republicans saying nothing like that was going on. miller defended himself essentially saying the questions were not specific enough. >> why did you mislead congress and the american people on this? >> mr. chairman, i did not mislead congress nor the american people. i answered the questions as they were asked. >> so it was the questions' fault. keep in mind it wasn't just the

republicans on the offensive at the hearing. the democrats were very eager to distance themselves from the controversy by loudly proclaiming just how outraged they are. >> it was a foolish mistake but the president is even more correct that it was outrageous. >> this is wrong to abuse the tax system. this screams out for tax reform. does it not? >> i think we can all agree if anybody has the moral authority to rail against tax system abuse it's congressman charlie rangel. anyway, miller swore that flagging those conservative key words was merely a shortcut because the irs is overwhelmed between 2010 and 2012 when the number of tax-exempt applications doubled. he also used that reasoning to make, perhaps, the most ill timed plea for more funding in american history. one tense exchange was between irs acting commissioner miller and republican congressman paul ryan. the former republican vice presidential candidate was frustrated that while miller was

briefed in may of last year on these practices he left it out in letters to congress and in testimony just two months later. >> how can we conclude you did not mislead this committee? i did not. i stand by my answer then. i stand by my answer now. >> and republican congressman paul ryan joins me now from capitol hill. congressman, thanks for being here. did you get the answers you were looking for at today's hearing? >> actually, no. we have many more questions that result from today's hearing. the one answer we did get, though, is that the irs withheld information from congress. jake, you have to know that last year we had these investigations in the ways and means committee, receiving all of these reports of this kind of harassment. we questioned the irs in hearings, in letters, and the irs withheld all of this information that they were in possession of as to whether this targeting was occurring or not. we do now know this targeting did occur. that it was politically biased. it was only of conservative

groups. now we're getting lots of questions with respect to religious groups and other kinds of groups. >> i want to play something else that mr. miller said at the hearing earlier today about the motives of these irs employees. take a listen. >> i do not believe that partisanship motivated the people who engaged in the practices described, in the treasury inspector general's report. i've reviewed the treasury inspector general's report and i believe its conclusions are consistent with that. i think that what happened here was that foolish mistakes were made by people trying to be more efficient in their work load selection. >> so, congressman, is it possible that this really was as mr. miller described poorly thought out bureaucracy reacting to an influx of conservative applications and not nefarious political partisanship? is it possible? >> we don't know the answer to any of these questions. that is the purpose of having the oversight hearings, the purpose of conducting oversight. i did ask mr. mill ear specific question which was when we reviewed the applications processed groups with the words

progressive or organizing in them were not targeted. so they specifically targeted groups with conservative wording with conservative ideas who were worried about the direction government was going and they specifically did not target groups that were of the liberal persuasion, that had progressive or organizing in their names. so they did single out groups because of their conservative political philosophy. that's just the fact. that's what we now know not just from the inspector general's report but the acknowledgment by the acting commissioner of the irs himself. and so there are so many more questions we have to ask. it is too early to draw declared conclusions. we've got a lot more to look into and that's why we're doing oversight. >> that actually raises a question i wanted to ask you, which is there is this debate as you know going on within the republican party about whether or not the republican party specifically the republican house is overplaying its hand, overreaching at least one-third of the committees on capitol hill now investigating the obama

administration, some republican voices are urging caution that this could end up being like 1998 when republicans were investigating the clinton administration and at the end of the election cycle republicans actually lost the seats in the house because the public was of the belief that republicans were more concerned with partisanship and investigations than they were with protecting their interests. where do you come down in this debate? >> i don't worry about the politics. i worry about the facts. i worry about the truth. i worry about people losing trust in their own government. i worry about these allegations and now these established facts that the internal revenue service was harassing people based on political persuasion. that they were targeting specific groups with specific political persuasions. that erodes trust in government. i don't want this to be a political endeavor. i want this to be a truth seeking endeavor so that we can restore trust and confidence in our government. >> there are certainly a lot of controversies or scandals brewing right now when it comes to the obama administration. there's benghazi, irs, the doj

issuing subpoenas of the associated press phone records. we have the story yesterday about the terrorists, former terrorists put in the witness relocation program that the marshal service lost track of. there's a lot for congress to beat up the administration on. at the same time, there are pressing needs in the economy. there are pressing needs when it comes to immigration reform. will it be possible for house republicans to work with the administration to get things done for this country. >> yes. while also maintaining these investigations? >> yes. we can walk and chew gum at the same time. i'm part of a group of republicans and democrats that just reached an agreement in principle last night on bipartisan immigration reform. we're still working on comprehensive tax reform in the ways and means committee, the committee doing these irs hearings as well and working with max baucus the democratic chairman of the senate finance committee. we have to do our job to do oversight of the federal government. we're not getting straight answers on benghazi, clearly not

on the irs, clearly worried about intimidation of the press with respect to the dog scandal but we are going to do the other policy initiatives, pro growth, bipartisan immigration reform. we're trying to get a budget agreement to get a down payment on the debt and deficit. all of these things are things we are doing and this is our job. that's what congress does. we have a lot of responsibilities and take all of them very seriously. >> all right. congressman paul ryan republican of wisconsin chair of the budget committee thank you for your time. have a good weekend. >> thanks. you too, jake. >> this is only the beginning of congressional scrutiny over the irs actions. next week the head of the department that approves tax-exempt status lois lerner will testify before the house oversight committee. it appears she knew about the targeting almost from the beginning in 2010 but who else knew? erin mcpike has been taking a closer look. >> reporter: well, jake, lois lerner is becoming more of an issue here because we now know that her signature was on at least one document to a tea party group asking for more

information over a year ago. so now the question has become, did she not know what she was approving? after resignations and a contentious hearing on capitol hill, there is growing confusion over who knew what and when during the multiple years the irs was targeting tea party groups. lois lerner, who heads up the cincinnati irs office that oversees tax-exempt organizations apologized last week after admitting that her division delayed processing applications for hundreds of tea party groups. but now the richmond tea party is charging that lerner is part of the scheme she is trying to fix. >> we found what we think is kind of a smoking gun. >> reporter: larry in ordervick runs the richmond group that first filed for tax-exempt status in december of 2009. the irs sent his group two more requests for information over the next 25 months. lerner's signature is on one of those letters from march of 2012. >> the 55 questions are the ones

that were extremely intrusive. for example, they wanted to know all our donors' names. they wanted to know whether they'd run for political office, whether they were going to run for political office. they wanted pictures of our web pages with member log-in, personal pages that would have revealed who our membership people were, and other things like that. so she definitely had to know what level of questioning was going on during this time. >> reporter: but acting irs commissioner steve miller, who resigned this week, defended lerner this morning. >> first you should know while her signature is on there, her signature is on 70,000 applications so let's not personalize this one to ms. lerner. in 2011, june or july, whatever it was, she handled and fixed the list issue. the cases were still in development. the cases needed to be in development. there were issues. we just did a remarkably bad

time of it. >> reporter: that kind of explanation isn't good enough for nordrick. >> i don't think anybody believes this was just a couple workers in a cubicle. all that not with standing when you put your signature on a piece of paper whether stamped, robo signature, or your own hand that is your signature on the paper and you have to own that. as far as we're concerned that is ms. lerner's signature on there. >> reporter: nordrick's group was approved last year and he and some tea party activists are encouraged by president obama's actions so far. >> i promise the american people this investigation has just begun. hearing adjourned. >> reporter: but they won't be satisfied until they get all the answers. now, jake, some of my republican sources have said to me they're actually pretty satisfied with how president obama has responded over the past week but there are still these burning questions about how high up the chain this went. >> a long history in this country of presidents using the

irs for political muscle so that's why a lot of americans are so suspicious. erin mcpike, thank you so much. coming up next on "the lead" he crossed the nra and pushed for tough new gun laws after sandy hook and aurora and now he is paying the price. the nra is taking an unusual step. i'll talk to the politician on the receiving end of the campaign not to keep him from getting re-elected but to get him booted from office. plus, police say $1 million in jewels were stolen while celebrities partied. how did the thieves pull off this heist? our pop lead is coming up. we threw a party in this house. the next day, we sprayed febreze air effects and asked real people what they thought. i can't believe i don't smell any of this. febreze did a really great job.

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c ó? welcome back to "the lead." it's time for our politics lead. cnn has learned for the first time in almost two decades the national rifle association is attempting to coordinate the recall of a state legislator. he is being punished as it goes for passing gun restriction legislation in his state. the target is the president of

the colorado state senate, john morse. this mailer cnn obtained from the nra political victory fund was sent out to someone who is a, quote, second amendment supporter. it says your state senator john morse led the charge to pass extreme and onerous antigun legislation in denver earlier this year. responsible gunmen and sportsmen will be forever burdened by his misguided leadership in the colorado senate. it then asks the recipient to go on a website to find out how to sign a local petition asking to recall state senator morse in a special election. the law they're referring to requires background checks for all gun transfers and a ban on 15-round magazine clips. the nra lobby's apparent message is vote for gun laws and we'll drop cash to get you out of office. state senator john morse joins me now from denver. we did invite someone from the nra to come but they declined. i know you are being targeted by local gun groups. did you have any idea you were being targeted by the nra?

>> in the very beginning no. it was a grass roots effort for a little while but when that didn't take at all it was clear they were getting money from outside and i wasn't the least surprised the nra was behind it. >> you also are getting money from the outside. this is the early stages. but it could become what we saw with the recall of, the attempted recall of wisconsin governor scott walker. big interests from out of state coming in to fight a local battle. in this instance mike bloomberg and gabby giffords and their pro gun restriction group facing off against the nra. is that possible? >> i do think that's possible. we've thought about this from the very beginning as outside groups coming to colorado and running colorado's gun laws but nothing could be further from the truth. you have to remember that colorado is ground zero for some of the worst gun tragedies that have occurred in our nation's

history with columbine and again aurora. we also, unfortunately, in colorado have a history of doing very little about it. after the columbine shooting nothing was done. people had to go to the ballot in 2000 a year later to get gun show background checks into the law which at that point the republicans controlled everything and wouldn't put in. and then this time aurora happened last summer and obviously the newtown happened in december and so obviously we addressed it this session. this is what we get for that response. the reality is we've got to do a lot for gun safety in this country and from my perspective obviously it starts in colorado because i'm in colorado as well as we're ground zero for these horrific tragedies. >> do you think that the nra and the other gun groups are going to be able to get the signatures they need? do you think there will be a recall election of you? >> well, as they say, everything is for sale and for a price you can get anything. and so again, they have 60 days to collect the signatures and in

the first third of that time they were doing horribly with just a, quote-unquote, grass roots effort. once you move in with money you can buy what you need to buy so i suspect they'll end with signatures and the secretary of state will look to make sure they got the quality they needed to and i will also look and so we could definitely be on the ballot. i don't think there is any question that could happen. >> all right. the president of the colorado state senate john morse, thanks so much for joining us. >> you're welcome. thank you for having me. coming up in the money lead in the high stakes fight for the future google just upped the ante so what is apple going to do next to keep up? plus, they scream, drink, and harass the people around them. no we're not talking about raiders fans but one nfl team's fans are getting their own reality show. which ones? our sports lead is next.

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welcome back to "the lead." now it's time for the sports lead. from kentucky bourbon to natty boese the horse racing world moves to pimlico tomorrow for the preakness stakes the second leg of the triple crown. the heavy favorite kentucky derby winner orb. he'll have two things riding on his back, a jockey and history. no horse has won the triple crown since affirmed in 1978. orb was way back in the back in the final turn of the derby but blew past everyone for a stunning win. if he can do it again tomorrow he would head to new york with a chance, a chance to become only the 12th horse to ever sweep the triple crown. sorry all you macho sports fans out there but a touching moment at one tampa bay rays game proves once and for all

that there is crying in baseball. 9-year-old elana adams got a chance to toss the first pitch at last night's matchup. check out what happens when the catcher removes his mask to congratulate the young girl. adams realizes it's her dad who had been deployed in afghanistan for two years. look at that. oh, my. if that doesn't make you feel all warm and fuzzy you're officially dead inside. they're the only nfl fans -- the only nfl fans who can call themselves team owners. their touchdown celebration involves groping players who leap into the stands and they wear cheese as a hat. the question isn't why are green bay packers fans getting their own tv show. that's not the question. the question is why did it take so long? cbs is developing a show called cheeseheads. of course it will show case wisconsin's football faithful living life, quote, loud, proud, and with lots of beer. no word yet on when the show

will debut. we should have course mention tbs is owned by cnn's parent company time warner. hash tag you're it. cheeseheads are getting a show. what other die hard fans are dee their own show? use the hash tag sports show. coming up president obama had the kind of week that would have left most of us curled up on the couch in the fetal position eating ice cream, binge watching re-runs on hulu. just me maybe? i don't think so. let's check in with our political panel in the green room. hillary rosen, beyond the cleansing week what does the white house do after a week like this to recover? >> you think it might be a good weekend for the president to pick some republicans that go play golf with. wouldn't you? >> i would worry about that becoming a crime scene quite honestly. >> instead the president is going to morehouse college to give the commencement address. the rest of us are just left

here while he is doing the people's business to just talk about it. >> he will be inspiring people. we'll be right back with the politics lead. i am an american success story. i'm a teacher. i'm a firefighter. i'm a carpenter. i'm an accountant. a mechanical engineer. and i shop at walmart. truth is, over sixty percent of america shops at walmart every month. i find what i need, at a great price. and the money i save goes to important things. braces for my daughter. a little something for my son's college fund. when people look at me, i hope they see someone building a better life. vo: living better: that's the real walmart. ♪ fly me to the moon ♪ let me play among the stars ♪ and let me see what spring is like ♪ ♪ on jupiter and mars ♪ in other words [ male announcer ] the classic is back. ♪ i love

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welcome back. i'm jake tapper. the money lead. it's been a whole seven months since apple's last big product launch and since then google, samsung, amazon, and more have generated a ton of buzz. is apple still the coolest kid on the block? the pop lead. the plot sounds way too hollywood for a movie playing at cannes but this wasn't a movie at all. police say a million dollars in jewels were stolen from a hotel room in the middle of the world's most glamorous film festival. and the world lead. whatever could have given this alleged american spy away? could it have been the wig that looks like a bleached badger on top of his head? it turns out that hair piece may have a wild back story all its own.

welcome back. i'm jake tapper. time for the money lead. if you want to know the next phase in google's plan for world domination look no further than your wallet. the internet giant unveiled an exciting new update to old technology to make it faster and easier for you to exchange money using a virtual wallet. that could spell big trouble for one of the founding fathers of the online payment game. erin mcpike has the story. >> western union the fastest way to send money. >> reporter: that used to be true but these days we've upgraded. google says its new program will let you send money without ever looking up from your e-mail. the search giant introduced google wallet in 2011. >> google wallet. tap, pay, and save. >> reporter: to store credit cards and other methods of payment for use when you're standing at a checkout counter or you see something online and want it right away. just scan your phone and the product is yours. >> all right.

thank you very much. >> reporter: but now google is upping the ante and taking on pay pal which was once the only secure way to pay online. it's dominated for about a decade now but you needed a pay pal account. with google wallet you don't need a separate account just an e-mail address and you can send money to a friend over the bet you lost last night just as easily as you can attach a photo from the experience. >> it absolutely is a step ahead of pay pal simply because pay pal is an extra step with the company that not a lot of ordinary people are familiar with. >> of course more money changing hands more problems. >> important to stop and think, one company to have all of my conversations and also a complete record of everyone i've sent money to and when and maybe why. >> reporter: still, if you want to rush out and sign up, hold your horses. google is rolling out the new feature the same way it did g-mail.

if you have an enterprising friend who already has it she can send it to you sooner. otherwise it's coming out over the next few months. you just have to be 18 to place ebets and g mail the money. >> while google is going gang busters, apple, remember them? the tech giant that once led the pack? apple is suddenly finding itself accused of losing its innovative edge. rocco, thanks so much for being here. wall street's love affair with apple has cooled. the stock is down 40% from last year's high. is apple in trouble? honestly, like where are the new gadgets? >> well, i'll tell you this. just right off the bat. i love apple. i spent more money on apple products in the last year than i have on my wife and my kid. okay? so there is no question right now today this moment in time. they dominate. they're number one. nobody gets excited about apple products, get excited about

samsung or even google like they do apple. they don't line up for them. there isn't that intensity or anticipation for what's next. if you look historically it really actually hasn't been a whole lot of time between new products. there was a long, long wait between ipod and iphones. so to me that's neither here nor there. i'm all about the future. i don't want them to rush out products like their competitors or change something about the iphone that works. i love my iphone. don't mess with it if it isn't broken. but they need a new product inside the next year and the question for me is really is tim cook the guy who can lead apple to replicate the things steve jobs accomplished? >> that is the big question right now is whether tim cook is that guy. if not tim cook who do you think should be running the show? >> i don't think it should be cooked first of all. i think apple showed own up to a mistake. they went all tim cook, bad idea. they should fire him. simple as that. he is an mba, manager, fantastic

businessman. he can tell you how to manage a supply chain like he did under steve jobs. he can tell you how many i-phones should be built for next quarter. he is a textbook guy. he is running apple in many ways by the textbook now. they need a visionary. not necessarily somebody with steve jobs' personality. you don't need to clone the guy. look at guys like jack dorsey the guy who founded twitter and now is devising square the mobile payment system before, now you're talking about mobile payments right? google wallet and everything else. dorsey has been on this for a few years. guys like howard shulz at starbucks, jeff bezos at amazon. they may not be the particular names who would be perfect for apple's ceo, but those types of individuals -- visionaries. people that know what you want before you even know it exists. people that run their companies like tech companies not by their grad school, mba text book. >> thank you so much for your

views. as always, see you soon. speaking of companies trying to find their cool yahoo is reportedly in talks to close a billion dollar deal with the social blogging site tumbler. the deal could help yahoo get back on the radar. next on "the lead" i'm sure you're looking forward to the weekend but you can't possibly want this week to end more than the president. is the damage done? plus, a gossip website is asking for donations to buy a compromising video of one mayor that allegedly involves somali drug dealers and a crack pipe. that story is coming up. [ female announcer ] a classic meatloaf recipe from stouffer's starts with ground beef, onions and peppers baked in a ketchup glaze with savory gravy and mashed russet potatoes. what makes stouffer's meatloaf best of all? that moment you enjoy it at home. stouffer's. made with care, for you or your family. i remember thinking there's a lot i have to do... check my blood sugar, eat better. start insulin.

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welcome back to "the lead." now it's time for the politics lead. tgif white house says i would think. when the week began everyone was talking about the perfect storm. three scandals or controversies whatever you want to call them spiraling toward the oval office. a deluge. the bad weather metaphors really erupted when this shot of the president emerged. president obama hiding under an umbrella hit the airwaves yesterday. look at that marine standing so erect. but soggy puns aside, how bad was the damage to the president actually? let's ask our political panel. yahoo news chief correspondent chief washington correspondent i should say, cnn contributor and republican strategist anna navarro and hillary rosen. president obama earlier today seemed to be trying to shrug off these controversies, these scandals. take a listen. >> i know it can seem frustrating sometimes when it seems like washington's priorities aren't the same as yours. i know it often seems like folks

down there are more concerned with their jobs than with yours. others may get distracted by chasing every fleeting issue that passes by but the middle class will always be my number one focus. period. >> this seems to be what we're going to hear from democrats is a focus on what matters to people and also that the scandals have gone away. do you think that's going to work? >> well, they're clearly not going to go away if only because the chairman of various house committees are saying they're not going to go away. as long as you have people being pulled before panels on the hill, this is going to keep going on. but you are going to hear from the white house as you heard for the last couple years actually that this isn't about jobs and this isn't about the future of the country and this isn't about families. this is purely inside the beltway obsession. >> hillary, i mean, every democrat agrees that this irs thing is ugly. >> yes. i think the president actually didn't avoid it. they've been dealing with it the last couple days and he put jack lew on it the secretary of the

treasury and the inspector general's report is fully out there. i don't think they've tried to avoid it. i think they've kind of owned it. benghazi is a little different because there is nothing there really. the more information that comes out the more it looks like this is just a republican circus. but i think the irs thing is one that actually real americans care about. but real americans really mostly care about jobs. i don't actually think the president is wrong when he says things like that. that's probably what he hears on the receiving line from real folks saying, you know, what's wrong with people in washington? why aren't they talking about us? >> i know there is a divide right now in the republican party with some republicans starting to express concerns of republicans in the house, a third of the committees there investigating the obama administration in one facet or another. even if all the investigations are nonpartisan and just part of congressional oversight, is there a risk for the republican house in being seen as too obsessed with the scandals and not devoted enough to jobs and

the economy? >> i frankly think the house can't worry about how they're perceived. they've got a job to do. government oversight. regardless of what party may be in power in the house, it is their job. that's why we have a democracy where there are three different branches of government and there is checks and balances. if it weren't for investigative committees we wouldn't have known that benghazi wasn't a video. we wouldn't have known some of the things that have come out recently. they have their job to do. there are a lot of people outside of the house that may be doing things like fund raising off benghazi which i think is not the right thing to do. i was speaking to lindsay graham the other day who was one of the people that has most pushed this issue of benghazi and he said, you know, you will never see me fund raise off benghazi. i think it dishonors the memory of the people who died there. i agree with him. i think there is a time for politics. there is a time for investigation. this is a time for getting to the facts and the truth. >> you know, paul ryan in the interview that you did with him before said, you know what? we can still do immigration.

we can still do the bucket. we can -- while we do these other things. kind of the onus is on them to prove that now. that, you know, they really have an agenda to go forward on some of these other issues that congress -- >> but they have been. >> no they haven't. >> much to my pleasant surprise the immigration bill has been chugging along. >> yes. >> they completed another day of markup yesterday and it has been going along. >> yeah. we'll see if it makes some progress. >> the house group announced last night they finally reached a deal. you know were? because it is not the white house's bill, one of the sole instances where congress has actually birthed their own idea and is cooperating. >> until this week, though, what we were hearing from people in the white house and on capitol hill, republicans, was that things like benghazi were helpful to getting this sort of thing done because they can say yes i'm working with the president on immigration reform but i'm holding him to account all these other things. >> okay. >> we're hearing a slightly different message now where republicans on the hill are wondering whether the accumulation of the problems might make the president really

just too toxic to work with. not that they've shown signs of working with him on things like, you know, entitlement reform or his economic package but the idea that things like immigration reform might now be in the balance. >> that's where the over reach will come is if they use these as an excuse. look, you know, say what you will about benghazi it's been looked at to death. the irs is going to be ongoing and nobody is going to have much control over how those results come. but if the republicans and the democrats on the hill start working together, you know, when push comes to shove they still need the president. he is still at the table. immigration has been a huge priority. it is an opportunity for big victory for the republicans and the president. >> thank god for immigration. he is not on the field. he's clapping from the bleachers. and that's what's going to save immigration. >> all right. we'll see what happens and we'll have you guys back. >> he'd be happy if that was the case. >> i'd be ecstatic. i'd be happy for him. >> thank you very much. coming up it sounds like the plot line to a movie but a

million dollar jewel heist just went down at the cannes film festival. we'll tell you how the crooks pulled it off. plus the villains on scooby doo had better disguises than the alleged american spy the russians just picked up. now it turns out the ridiculous wig he was wearing may have a history going back as far as the cold war. we'll explain after this.

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welcome back to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. now it's time for the pop culture lead. a jewelry heist in the south of france. everyone is beautiful. there is an ironic plot twist. sounds like a hollywood script. you'd want to roll your eyes at it, right? this whodunit is real.

and it has yet to be solved. thieves made off with close to a million dollars worth of jewelry at the cannes film festival. it was being kept inside the hotel room safe of an employee of showpard jewels. if you've seen one too many movies not to think it was an ib side job, well, you're not alone. this week they're the most riveting sight on the riviera. all that bling and irresistible target for papparazzi and it turns out for thieves. as the celebs at the cannes film festival discovered last night when under cover of darkness those diamonds disappeared. >> diamonds. the only thing in the world you can't resist. a jewelry heist in the luxurious location? sounds like a plot from "to catch a thief." >> filmed on the beautiful french riviera. >> a very strong grip the kind a

burglar needs. >> but this thief is no carey grant. managing to make off with less than a million dollars worth of bling, small potatoes when talking diamonds in 2013. >> has been the victim of a robbery last night. there is currently an investigation under way. >> a bigger question for us, why are all the jewelers bringing their wares to cannes? i mean, what's in it for them? well, it turns out, big bucks. >> they're definitely not passing through a lot of hands along the way so they're very, very secure as they travel. we make sure that we have accountability every step of the way. >> wendy adeler says once her father started loaning his pieces to celebrities to wear on the red carpet sales to real people, well, they spiked. >> sort of helps to show case your designs on a larger scale and a larger audience. >> while the investigation in cannes continues, french police

say the thieves swiped the safe, unscrewed from the wall in a hotel room, sometime between 8:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. prime party time during the week-long film festival. perhaps the thief was taking advantage of that night's hot premiere "the bling ring" by director sophia copola let's go to paris. >> that film is about, you guessed it, a jewelry heist. and it debuted within hours of the real life lift. life imitating art imitating life on the movie world's most glamorous stage. police say whoever did it had to have had inside information about where the jewels were being stored and that there was likely more than one person involved. in the tvbiz it's the equivalent of not just liking it but putting a ring on it. amazon has decided to pick up the pilot for the online political drama alpha house. earlier this week we told you about amazon's jaunt into the

original content game. amazon rolled out 14 pilots as part of a new plan to directly compete with internet content providers like netflix and hulu. alpha house is the first show to get the green light. it stars john goodman and is written by pulitzer prize winning cartoonist gary trudeau. congratulations. sure president obama had a bad week but at least he's not this mayor who allegedly just got caught on video smoking crack. as first reported by gawker.com. that story straight ahead when "the lead" continues. when we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals: help the gulf recover, and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i've been with bp for 24 years. i was part of the team that helped deliver on our commitments to the gulf - and i can tell you, safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge safety equipment and technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over

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[ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. ...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. welcome back to "the lead." now it's time for the world lead. despite reports of extreme suffering and death and at times total barberism coming out from syria's civil war russia says, hey, a deal is a deal. the country downplayed yet another russian shipment of missiles to the syrian regime today saying they were just fulfilling a contract and that the media should not get all worked up about it. the "new york times" reports that russia sent a shipment of advanced antiship cruz missiles to the regime. analysts say unlike scud missiles which syria has fired upon its own people these missiles would be and could be fired at ships, possibly ones trying to rearm the rebels. of all the things you've

seen crowd funded on kick-starter, this has got to be a first. the website gawker is trying to raise $200,000 to buy a video that allegedly shows toronto's mayor smoking crack. i couldn't make this up if i tried. two reporters for the toronto star say they saw video of rob ford with two somali drug dealers smoking out of a crack pipe. john cook from gawker.com says the same thing. while they have no way of verifying whether the video is real, the toronto reporters say it appears to be undoctored. mayor of toronto rob ford responded to the story a few hours ago. >> the allegations of this video? >> absolutely -- it's ridiculous. >> absolutely not true he says. the video is supposedly being shopped around and gawker hopes to raise enough cash to buy it and post it online. when you think of international espionage you think 007, the gadgets, the

guns. not really obvious wigs. but it turns out ryan fogle the accused american spy in russia may have had his cover blown by a really awful rug. russia's interfax news agency says the unconvincing wig that fogle was wearing when he was arrested matched a wig taken from another u.s. embassy employee who was kicked out of the soviet union for allegedly spying back in 1986. still in the cold war days. turns out according to "the washington post" that the cia has been using the same wig supplier for decades and apparently there is a specialty there they have in duplicating billy zabka's hair from the karate kid. sweep the leg, billy. hash tag you're it. we asked you earlier which sports fans deserve a reality tv show and in addition to the cheeseheads and what you would name it, agony. sums up the lakers, clippers, angels, and dodgers this year. crash landing. a show for jets fans.

sd says philadelphia eagles fans need a reality show called flipping the birds. indeed. that's it for "the lead." i am jake tapper. have a great weekend. i leave you now in the capable hands of mr. wolf blitzer right next door in "the situation room." thanks very much. happening now, on the hot seat. with the temperature turned all the way up. the ousted irs boss tells congress foolish mistakes not politics led to the scrutiny of conservatives. o.j. simpson is back in the public eye today. after years in prison he is making a bid for a new trial saying his ex-lawyer let him down. but wait until you hear what that lawyer is now saying. and while the movie stars were out with all their glitter and bling, someone was making off with a small fortune of diamonds. we're digging into the mystery in one of the world's most glamorous spots. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the situation room.